Thousands stranded in train stations due to cable drop

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of commuters in Gambir, Gondangdia, Tebet and Manggarai railway stations in Jakarta were left stranded on Friday when their trains failed to depart due to a damaged overhead power cable.

A cable came down at Tebet station at 5:45 p.m., for an unknown reason, and resulted in a number of electric trains being left stuck on the lines thus preventing other trains from passing, according to Zainal Abidin, spokesman for the state-run railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI).

"We will use locomotives to shunt the trains to Manggarai station as they are blocking the tracks," he told The Jakarta Post.

Zainal said it was unclear when the cable would be repaired and whether the trains which usually pass through the station could be rerouted.

"At this time, we can only offer our apologies," he said.

At Manggarai station, Central Jakarta, hundreds of passengers were upset after waiting for hours for their trains, which still had not appeared at about 8 p.m.

Most of them were waiting for trains to take them in the direction of Bogor.

A passenger said that earlier this month he had also been left stranded for hours at the same station.

"On the other day they said it happened because it (the cable) was struck by lighting. And now, what's going on?" Budi, 35, grumbled.

"There is no clear information about this incident. We have only heard that something is wrong in Tebet, but we don't know what is really going on," said the Bogor resident, who works in the city.

A policeman on duty at the railway station told The Jakarta Post at about 7 p.m. that at least five trains should have departed Manggarai station heading for Bogor.

One train has five or six coaches and during rush hour there are at least 100 people crowding into each coach, according to the officer.

Many impatient passengers took buses or other forms of public transportation, while many others preferred to wait it out at the station.

"Tomorrow, I'm off, so I don't mind waiting until late," said a man.

He said that if he were to take a bus, he would have to go to Kampung Rambutan bus terminal. As there was no public transportation going directly to the terminal, he would have to change buses twice and it would take about one hour. It would take another hour from the bus terminal to Bogor.

"If I take a train, it only takes an hour," he said.

Meanwhile, the Argo Gede express train serving the Jakarta- Bandung route, which was scheduled to leave Gambir station at 6 p.m., eventually departed one hour late due to the blocked tracks at Manggarai.

"A Gajayana train serving the Gambir-Malang route had to go back to Gambir because the line was blocked by an electric train. Another electric train heading to Bekasi is still stuck there on the line," he said.

The Gajayana train eventually departed about an hour late.(bby/04/06)